FB: American Rivers Conference

[wartknight]

First of all: Happy Thanksgiving!

Good start to the day - Got my workout in, one bird cooking in my BigEasy & another ready to go in my turkey fryer in about 30 min. When done load em up & travel all of 4 blocks to mother-in-laws. She did inform me she stocked the son-in-law cave frig with plenty of beverages for the football games today! Should be a good day.

[Old Dutch]

First of all: Happy Thanksgiving!

Good start to the day - Got my workout in, one bird cooking in my BigEasy & another ready to go in my turkey fryer in about 30 min. When done load em up & travel all of 4 blocks to mother-in-laws. She did inform me she stocked the son-in-law cave frig with plenty of beverages for the football games today! Should be a good day.

Ahhh . . . Nothin' like a tryptophan and alcohol induced NAP on Turkey Day.  I am Thankful for the opportunity for R & R with the OD family.  Apologies in advance for the snoring.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

[Klompen]

Congratulations to Wyatt Hanus on his nomination/finalist status for the Gagliardi Trophy.  Best of luck to him, it would be quite an honor to have a winner from the IIAC two years in a row.

[Stom12]

Simpson:
Losing O= WR, WR, TE, LT, C, RG,
Losing D= 20 out of 22 defensive guys on 2-deeps were seniors
      1 starter returning: DE
   Bring Back
   O: QB, Wr, Rb, LG, RT                                                Total Returning
   D: DE                                                            6

Buena Vista:
Losing O: WR, WR, C, RG
Losing D: CB, LB
   Bring Back
   O: Qb, Wr, Te, Rb, LT, LG, RT
   D: De, De, Dt, Dt, Lb, Lb, S, S, CB                                       16

Coe:
Losing O: QB, WR, WR, RB, WR, LT, C, RT
Losing D: DE, MLB, CB, SS
   Bring Back
   O: WR, LG, RG
   D: De, Dt, Dt, Lb, Lb, Cb, FS                                           10

Wartburg:
Losing O: WR, RB, WR, RG, LG, C
Losing D: CB, LB, CB, DL, LB, SS
   Bring Back
   O: QB, Wr, LT, Rt
   D: De, Dt, Lb, Lb, FS                                                       9

Dubuque:
Losing O: QB, TE, LG, C,
Losing D: DT, DE, LB, LB, SS,
   Bring Back
   O: Wr, Wr, Wr, Rb, Lt, Rg, Rt
   D: De, Dt, Lb, Cb, Cb, FS                                                    13

[Stom12]

With that being said, I believe it's going to be another close year in conference next year and my early predictions for 2013 are:
1) Coe
1) Buena Vista

3)Central
3)Wartburg

5) Dubuque (they return a lot, but they lose their QB who was the reason they had success this year. Going to be tough for the backup to fill his shoes)
6) Simpson
7) Loras
8) Luther

[doolittledog]

Welcome to the board.  Those are great first posts.

[doolittledog]

With that being said, I believe it's going to be another close year in conference next year and my early predictions for 2013 are:
1) Coe
1) Buena Vista

3)Central
3)Wartburg

5) Dubuque (they return a lot, but they lose their QB who was the reason they had success this year. Going to be tough for the backup to fill his shoes)
6) Simpson
7) Loras
8) Luther

Taking a look at that. 

I would agree with Coe at 1st.  They are the defending champs.  While the Kohawks lose a bunch on offense, it sounds like they have replacements ready and they return the core of the defense. 

From watching all of the UD games this year, the BVU defense looked the best of all the IIAC teams in their game against UD.  The BVU offense looked very weak.  I don't think I could put the Beavers that high because of their offense. 

Central/Wartburg...yeah yeah yeah, they don't rebuild, they reload...and until they spend some time lower in the conference (and they never do) they deserve to be put at or near the top every preseason.

Dubuque needs to find a replacement for Wyatt Hanus at QB.  If they do, look out, that should be a strong offense.  They lose their QB, TE, and Center.  Their LG actually was a junior this year, he was mistakenly listed as a Senior in the program.  The UD defense was probably better than most have given them credit for the last 2 years.  If they can replace 5 starters I would swap BVU and Dubuque in your picks.

Simpson losing 20 of 22 in their defensive 2 deeps could spell trouble for the Storm next season. 

Loras and Luther are 2 teams in need of an offense.  The Luther D was actually a mid level D.  With the Norse playing Loras at home next season I would put Luther over Loras in the standings for next year. 

[Duhawkin]

What does Loras need to do to get this ship turned around?

Granted we just lost a full senior o-line, but most of the skill players seem to be up to par.

I want this team to win so bad, but it seems we continually shoot ourselves in the foot. (or some other teams are also just plain bigger)

[CaliRamRL6]

What does Loras need to do to get this ship turned around?

Granted we just lost a full senior o-line, but most of the skill players seem to be up to par.

I want this team to win so bad, but it seems we continually shoot ourselves in the foot. (or some other teams are also just plain bigger)

Join the Midwest Conference. HAHAHA just kidding.

[doolittledog]

What does Loras need to do to get this ship turned around?

Granted we just lost a full senior o-line, but most of the skill players seem to be up to par.

I want this team to win so bad, but it seems we continually shoot ourselves in the foot. (or some other teams are also just plain bigger)

Somewhere Steve Osterberger is saying "how do you like me now, Loras?"

[IIAC-Lifer]

What Loras has coming back ...

OFF: 6 return
Coming back
QB - transfer FR this year
RB - 1st team All Conf
TE x3 - all saw playing time
WR x3 - all saw playing time
OL - x1 - started last 7 games

Lost
OL - x4 - going to be a huge hole to fill.
FB -

DEF: 9 return - 17 out of the two deep.
Coming back:
DL x2 - Both FR started all 10 games - x2 with heavy playing time
LB x2 - FR started all 10 games at ILB. SO started all 10 games at OLB - x2 with heavy playing time.
DB x4 - SO/FR started all 10 games at CB / SR at FS / FR started all 10 games at SS.

Lost - 3 year starter at ILB and DL.

Need to find oline to block for Carrier and get more depth across the board. Not saying that Loras is set up to make a run at the title next year, but with another solid recruiting class and the experience coming back on the Defensive side of the football they should be better. 5-5 / 6-4 would be a good year for the Duhawks.   

[Stom12]

With that being said, I believe it's going to be another close year in conference next year and my early predictions for 2013 are:
1) Coe
1) Buena Vista

3)Central
3)Wartburg

5) Dubuque (they return a lot, but they lose their QB who was the reason they had success this year. Going to be tough for the backup to fill his shoes)
6) Simpson
7) Loras
8) Luther

Taking a look at that. 

I would agree with Coe at 1st.  They are the defending champs.  While the Kohawks lose a bunch on offense, it sounds like they have replacements ready and they return the core of the defense. 

From watching all of the UD games this year, the BVU defense looked the best of all the IIAC teams in their game against UD.  The BVU offense looked very weak.  I don't think I could put the Beavers that high because of their offense. 

Central/Wartburg...yeah yeah yeah, they don't rebuild, they reload...and until they spend some time lower in the conference (and they never do) they deserve to be put at or near the top every preseason.

Dubuque needs to find a replacement for Wyatt Hanus at QB.  If they do, look out, that should be a strong offense.  They lose their QB, TE, and Center.  Their LG actually was a junior this year, he was mistakenly listed as a Senior in the program.  The UD defense was probably better than most have given them credit for the last 2 years.  If they can replace 5 starters I would swap BVU and Dubuque in your picks.

Simpson losing 20 of 22 in their defensive 2 deeps could spell trouble for the Storm next season. 

Loras and Luther are 2 teams in need of an offense.  The Luther D was actually a mid level D.  With the Norse playing Loras at home next season I would put Luther over Loras in the standings for next year.

I agree with what you posted, Doolittle. The thing with Buena Vista's offense looking weak against Dubuque (my neighbors nephew plays for them so we listened to this game together) was that what it sounded like is that both teams struggled when they were going against the wind that day. Hanus was 5 of 12 I believe going into the wind for 60 yards I want to say and when he had the wind to his back thats when he got all his stats in the 4th quarter so it sounds like BV had the same trouble when going into the wind, and with Dubuque eating up a lot of clock in the first quarter when BV had the wind hurt them offensively and Dubuque did a superb job stopping BV's run game which most teams weren't able to do.
I think teams were surprised by how well UD's defense did this year, they lose some experienced players in their MLB, NT, and SS but they return some quality players.

Thinking more into it, I agree with Luther being ahead of Loras. If Luther had an offense this year, they could've been a scary team with the defense they had. But overall, it's hard to say based on people coming back whose going to be on top and middle of the pack because every team loses major roles on their team so it'll be interesting to see what new faces we see next year step up in those roles which will be a big factor into whose on top and so forth
Like Coe and Dubuque, they lose their Qb's who are huge roles in their offenses and both ran their systems great so it'll be interesting to see if someone can step up to fill their spots. Simpson loses a big time playmaker at receiver and their whole defense.

To answer Lifer's question, I believe that Loras' problem is their overall size. They're young so a full year with a strength and conditioning coach will be crucial if they want to have success. It's going to be tough to replace an experienced O-line that 4 out of 5 are graduating.

[notlongago]

With that being said, I believe it's going to be another close year in conference next year and my early predictions for 2013 are:
1) Coe
1) Buena Vista

3)Central
3)Wartburg

5) Dubuque (they return a lot, but they lose their QB who was the reason they had success this year. Going to be tough for the backup to fill his shoes)
6) Simpson
7) Loras
8) Luther

Taking a look at that. 

I would agree with Coe at 1st.  They are the defending champs.  While the Kohawks lose a bunch on offense, it sounds like they have replacements ready and they return the core of the defense. 

From watching all of the UD games this year, the BVU defense looked the best of all the IIAC teams in their game against UD.  The BVU offense looked very weak.  I don't think I could put the Beavers that high because of their offense. 

Central/Wartburg...yeah yeah yeah, they don't rebuild, they reload...and until they spend some time lower in the conference (and they never do) they deserve to be put at or near the top every preseason.

Dubuque needs to find a replacement for Wyatt Hanus at QB.  If they do, look out, that should be a strong offense.  They lose their QB, TE, and Center.  Their LG actually was a junior this year, he was mistakenly listed as a Senior in the program.  The UD defense was probably better than most have given them credit for the last 2 years.  If they can replace 5 starters I would swap BVU and Dubuque in your picks.

Simpson losing 20 of 22 in their defensive 2 deeps could spell trouble for the Storm next season. 

Loras and Luther are 2 teams in need of an offense.  The Luther D was actually a mid level D.  With the Norse playing Loras at home next season I would put Luther over Loras in the standings for next year.

I agree with what you posted, Doolittle. The thing with Buena Vista's offense looking weak against Dubuque (my neighbors nephew plays for them so we listened to this game together) was that what it sounded like is that both teams struggled when they were going against the wind that day. Hanus was 5 of 12 I believe going into the wind for 60 yards I want to say and when he had the wind to his back thats when he got all his stats in the 4th quarter so it sounds like BV had the same trouble when going into the wind, and with Dubuque eating up a lot of clock in the first quarter when BV had the wind hurt them offensively and Dubuque did a superb job stopping BV's run game which most teams weren't able to do.
I think teams were surprised by how well UD's defense did this year, they lose some experienced players in their MLB, NT, and SS but they return some quality players.

Thinking more into it, I agree with Luther being ahead of Loras. If Luther had an offense this year, they could've been a scary team with the defense they had. But overall, it's hard to say based on people coming back whose going to be on top and middle of the pack because every team loses major roles on their team so it'll be interesting to see what new faces we see next year step up in those roles which will be a big factor into whose on top and so forth
Like Coe and Dubuque, they lose their Qb's who are huge roles in their offenses and both ran their systems great so it'll be interesting to see if someone can step up to fill their spots. Simpson loses a big time playmaker at receiver and their whole defense.

To answer Lifer's question, I believe that Loras' problem is their overall size. They're young so a full year with a strength and conditioning coach will be crucial if they want to have success. It's going to be tough to replace an experienced O-line that 4 out of 5 are graduating.

You brought up many good points concerning BV that I really didn't think about.
Much like i said last season about DBQ missing much more than his stats when Zweifel left, I think they run into the same again this season losing Hanus, and as of right now I can't see them legitimately contending. (assuming no big transfers, which nearly happened this year...if they get a big name to come play QB, they could be right back in the thick of things).

I still see Coe as the favorites (again, by virtue of being the returning champs, but their defense could take a hurtin) followed by

Central
Wartburg
BV
DBQ
Simpson (20 of 22 starters lost? WOW)
Loras
Luther

[doolittledog]

I agree with what you posted, Doolittle. The thing with Buena Vista's offense looking weak against Dubuque (my neighbors nephew plays for them so we listened to this game together) was that what it sounded like is that both teams struggled when they were going against the wind that day. Hanus was 5 of 12 I believe going into the wind for 60 yards I want to say and when he had the wind to his back thats when he got all his stats in the 4th quarter so it sounds like BV had the same trouble when going into the wind, and with Dubuque eating up a lot of clock in the first quarter when BV had the wind hurt them offensively and Dubuque did a superb job stopping BV's run game which most teams weren't able to do.
I think teams were surprised by how well UD's defense did this year, they lose some experienced players in their MLB, NT, and SS but they return some quality players.

Thinking more into it, I agree with Luther being ahead of Loras. If Luther had an offense this year, they could've been a scary team with the defense they had. But overall, it's hard to say based on people coming back whose going to be on top and middle of the pack because every team loses major roles on their team so it'll be interesting to see what new faces we see next year step up in those roles which will be a big factor into whose on top and so forth
Like Coe and Dubuque, they lose their Qb's who are huge roles in their offenses and both ran their systems great so it'll be interesting to see if someone can step up to fill their spots. Simpson loses a big time playmaker at receiver and their whole defense.

To answer Lifer's question, I believe that Loras' problem is their overall size. They're young so a full year with a strength and conditioning coach will be crucial if they want to have success. It's going to be tough to replace an experienced O-line that 4 out of 5 are graduating.

The wind played a big part in the UD/BVU game for sure.  DBQ couldn't get a drive going and couldn't punt themselves out of danger in the 3rd quarter when they were going into the wind.  My memory of that game was the 3rd quarter when BVU had the wind and started nearly every drive in DBQ territory and only came up with 1 TD.  I just looked up 2nd half stats for that game to see about the BVU offense.

BVU had the wind in the 3rd quarter.  Dubuque took the 2nd half kickoff and drove to the BVU 24 before turning the ball over on downs. 

BVU started on their 24 and went 3 plays for 8 yards and punted.

BVU started on the DBQ 27 after a UD punt and went 3 plays for -16 yards and punted from the DBQ 43

BVU got an INT and started from the UD 24 and threw an INT back to DBQ.

BVU started on the UD 40 after a UD punt and drove 40 yards for a TD with 6 seconds left in the quarter. 

BVU went against the wind in the 4th quarter...after a UD TD...

BVU went 14 plays for 75 yards in 6:55 for a TD

After a UD TD...BVU went 3 plays for 2 yards and a punt.  Dubuque started from their own 47 and kicked the game tying FG with about a minute left in regulation. 

In OT with the wind BVU went 3 plays for 4 yards and had a FG attempt blocked.  UD then scored the game winning TD. 

BVU with the wind in the 3rd quarter had 4 total drives and 3 of those started in DBQ territory and they got 7 points out of that.  BVU actually had more yards in the 4th quarter going against the wind and the same amount of points. 

But, that was the only game I saw BVU play this year.  There could be a lot more to their offense than I was able to see.  I certainly was impressed with the BVU defense.  They looked very strong, regardless of wind and gave the UD offense trouble.  The coaches afterwards were really talking the BVU defense up. 

[warthog]

Notre Dame or Alabama/Georgia